The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the largest commitment ever made by any nation to an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease. The law authorizing these global HIV/AIDS programs first passed in 2003 with a five-year timeframe. The effort was reauthorized in 2008, and despite containing some improvements to the first phase of PEPFAR,…

By Lori L. Heise, C. Elizabeth McGrory, and Susan Y. Wood In 1997, the Population Council and Women’s Health Advocates on Microbicides (WHAM) convened an international symposium to examine practical and ethical dilemmas in the clinical testing of topical microbicides. The symposium occurred as three significant trends in the history of women’s sexual health and rights converged: donors’ and programs’…

In all parts of the world, many adolescents’ first experiences of sexual intercourse are coerced or violent. Violent or coercive sex makes adolescents more vulnerable to HIV. Interventions to address the triple jeopardy of young age, sexual violence, and HIV/AIDS must include comprehensive sexuality education and accessible sexual and reproductive health services for all adolescents,…

The 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS should have been a critical milestone. It was the opportunity for governments to elaborate how they intended to meet the ambitious target of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 that they committed to as part of the Sustainable Development Goals just last year. In order…

Here are some snapshots from the week-long conference—some of the speakers and activists from inside the convention halls and the protests outside who helped ensure the world keeps its focus on ending AIDS. Read more about the 21st International AIDS Conference >> Meet four dynamic women activists who attended the conference >>…

IWHC will join with leaders of several major institutions engaged in responding to HIV and AIDS to put forth plans to curb the epidemic among girls and young women, who are disproportionately affected.

Despite the significant advances the world has made in reducing HIV, adolescent girls and young women, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, have been left behind. According to new data from UNAIDS, adolescent girls and young women account for one in five new infections globally. In some countries in southern and eastern Africa, HIV prevalence among girls…